IN the November NFDHS Newsletter you may have read the article (p 6) about the three ex-felons who proved to be the first white men to see the Brisbane River (1823).
After trekking about 40km along the southern side of the wide stream, the men discovered a native canoe which enabled them to cross the river.
A plaque was installed on the bridge across Oxley Creek at Tennyson in 1964 to mark the historic spot.
The inscription reads:
Thomas Pamphlett was one of three castaway cedar-getters from Sydney. They discovered the Brisbane River in June 1823 and crossed it in a native canoe which they found near the mouth of what is now Oxley Creek. In December 1823 Pamphlett showed his rescuer, Lieut. John Oxley, this creek which Oxley named Canoe River.
Read the full article here (page 6):
Photo courtesy Ron Altmann.